There’s lots out this week as many comics get their last issues out for the year. As always a full list can be found here but hit the jump for the Media Whore Networks guide to the comics you should be reading this week.

BPRD: War on Frogs #4

Johann Kraus, the ectoplasmic man, leads a team of B.P.R.D. agents against the frog monsters as they spread across the country. But this time, burning the nest of frogs is not the end of the battle for Johann, as he learns about the horrifying afterlife of the Bureau’s sworn enemies.  You can’t go wrong with BPRD if you’re into the supernatural, plus Johann is one of my favourite characters in the Hellboy universe so I’m glad to see him centre stage for a change.

God Complex #1

Meet Paul, he’s an everyday kind of guy. He’s kinda tall, kinda strong and kinda not mortal at all.  Paul is actually Apollo (no, really) in hiding…from his family the ancient Greek gods. Paul’s father (you know, Zeus) would rather see Paul dead than living as a mortal.  So, for Paul, being a god is complex and dangerous.  God Complex is from the co-creator of Powers and Mice Templar, Michael Avon Oeming so fans of either of them should probably check this out.

DMZ #48

The USA, in the name of global stability, is abandoning all manner of negotiation, peace talks, ceasefires and diplomacy and moving forward unilaterally in its goal of a nuclear-free Manhattan.  Surely this was an eventuality that Parco Delgado saw coming a mile off, right? Hey, where is Parco, anyway? And in the middle of the violence, Zee and Matty reunite.  This is part 4 of 5 of the ‘Hearts and Minds’ storyline and it continues to get better and better.  DMZ is my favourite comic around at the moment, this is what I call required reading.

Ex Machina Volume 8 – Dirty Tricks

In this latest EX MACHINA volume, a new masked adventurer is thrilling New York City but threatens to derail the upcoming Republican National Convention–and the political future of superhero-turned-mayor Mitchell Hundred hangs in the balance. This new collection of the Eisner Award-winning series features issues #35-39 and the EX MACHINA HALLOWEEN SPECIAL.  If you’re up on the current political climate in the US then you should be reading Ex Machina, it manages to wrap real world stories into a fantastically original superhero story, give it a read.

That’s it for this week what are you guys picking up?

The post Whorin’ the Comics – 9th December 2009 appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

Aliens draws to a close this week and Haunt starts to pick up pace, as always a full list can be found here but hit the jump to find out the Media Whore Network’s guide to the comics you should be reading this week:

Aliens #4

Can an android dream? After waking from what appears to be just that, the android Sereda struggles with the idea that he may be more damaged than he originally thought. Still, whether it’s simply his programming or a newly found free will, Sereda is hell bent on effecting the rescue of the woman whose voice brought him down into the bewildering maze of a seemingly endless necropolis. Most of the surviving planetary prospectors are willing to follow him into the labyrinth, but there are two major obstacles to the rescue mission: a horde of marauding xenomorphs, and the man who shot Sereda, who isn’t about to let a damaged synthetic lead the other survivors anywhere.  The series has really reinvigorated peoples interest in the Aliens saga and with the upcoming game and film that can only be a good thing.

Haunt #3

Daniel Kilgore now finds himself entrenched in his brother Kurt’s secret life of espionage and murder. Finally the two of them meet someone who can explain their other-worldly situation and at long last a few secrets are revealed as we learn more about Haunt and what makes him tick.  Haunt increasing popularity probably has something to do with the fact that it’s written by Robert Kirkman (Waking Dead) and drawn by Todd Macfarlane (Spawn) who lets be honest are two of the biggest names in the comics industry today, issues 1 and 2 also get a reprint this week so now’s a great time to start reading to comic greats working together.

Sword #20

A serious limitation of the sword’s power is revealed. And if that isn’t enough to discourage Dara in her mission to hunt down Malia, a very threatening opponent that awaits her might.  Sword has been pretty up and down for me but the fact it’s been running for nearly two years and has built up a massive following only serves to prove that I’m wrong when it comes to this series, give it a read it you’re interested in a fast paced action heavy comic.

The post Whorin’ the Comics – 2nd December 2009 appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

This week Image launches their massive cross over event and my favourite superhero detective goes monthly.  As always a the full list can be found here and hit the jump for the Media Whore Networks guide to the comics you should be picking up this week.

Image United #1

The heroes of the Image Universe are united in order to fight the greatest threat the world as ever faced! You can’t miss this historic event as the original Image Founders draw all the characters they made history with.  This is one of those comics that’s going to drive collectors mad with variant covers galore, I’m sure fans of Image universe will be trying to track them all down plus it’ll be interesting to see how all of these writers bring their characters together for an action packed storyline.

Powers #1

Homicide Detectives Christian Walker and Enki Sunrise investigate murders specific to super hero cases, powers. Where super hero and crime comics explode into each other! This new number one is the PERFECT jumping on point for new readers and a glorious return to form for long time fans. And yes, this book will be shipping monthly.  I really hope Bendis and Oeming can keep up the monthly pace of the comic, the trades are some of the best examples of comic writing and drawing around at the moment. People new to comics should really be picking this one up as it’s a great example of the superhero genre.

The Goon #33

The Goon goes to the dentist and finds out that the receptionist has been replaced by a sentient manatee! And the Goon hates manatees! So he punches it! The dentist doesn’t like that so he kicks Goon out. Leaving him with the dilemma of how to eat candy apples with a sore tooth. Then aliens show up.  Yes that is synopsis for this weeks issue of The Goon and probably makes about as much sense as the rest comic.  Issue 33 is one of Dark Horse’s One Hit Wonders series, a series of one shots from some of their most popular comics (Hellboy, Abe Sapien, Goon, Star Wars, Dr Horrible and a few more) making it an ideal comic to pick up if you want to experience some of the most original, hilarious and downright weird comic writing around at the moment.

That’s it for this week, what are you guys picking up?

The post Whorin’ the Comics – 25th November 2009 appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

Every geeks favourite musical gets a one shot this week and the latest issue of the best superhero comic hits the shelves along with it. As always a full list of this weeks releases can be found here and hit the jump for the Media Whore Networks guide to the comics you should be picking up this week:

Dr Horrible #1

In this One-Shot Wonder, Zack Whedon and artist Joelle Jones (Token) establish how a young, impressionable, but brilliant Dr. Horrible was drawn into a world of crime. Readers are reacquainted with the charming, brawny, crime-fighting superhero extraordinaire Captain Hammer when Dr. Horrible crosses paths with his greatest enemy in an all-out showdown of immeasurable proportions. Special guest appearances include Dr. Horrible’s love interest, Penny; his sidekick, Moist; and a meter man.  I loved Dr Horrible’s Sing Along Blog and I’ve been anticipating a sequel ever since it was released, hopefully the comic will prove popular enough to make the rumours of sequel a reality.

Cowboy Ninja Viking #2

Dr. Ghislain sends C.N.V and partner Sara Nix to Tokyo to track down rogue Triplet Yashitiko Ammo (P.G.O) and things go from bad to worse, starting with the fact that sticking C.N.V in economy class on a 18-hour flight to Japan is, in the history of bad ideas, right up there with Stalin, polyester, and Axe Body Spray. Plus, we finally learn who the Scarf Guy is!  The title of the comic is Cowboy Ninja Viking that’s got to at least get you semi interested in an awesome action packed comic.

Invincible #68

EVERYTHING IS DIFFERENT NOW! We return to Earth after the brief space interlude involving Nolan and Allen the Alien… but is it the Earth we knew?What changes have taken place? What has transpired in the time we were away? Who is DINOSAURUS?!  Reasons you should probably buy this issue of Invincible: 1) DINOSAURUS is an amazing name for a villain.  2) Issue 68 is serving as a bit of reboot in the series making it an absolutely perfect time to get involved in my favourite superhero comic around at the moment.

That’s it for me this week, what are you guys picking up?

The post Whorin’ the Comics – 18th November 2009 appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

It’s a videogame crossover special this week in the world of comics with some of this years biggest games getting the latest issues of their comic adaptations and I figured you guys might want to check them out.  As always a full list can be found here and hit the jump for the Media Whore Networks guide to the comics you should be reading this week:

Modern Warfare 2: Ghost #1

WildStorm brings you a no-holds-barred, brutal tale of the mysterious Task Force 141 soldier known as ‘Ghost.’ Learning the motivation behind his mask and moniker is the tip of the iceberg in a story spanning the globe from the United Kingdom to war-torn Afghanistan to the drug war in Mexico.  By the time you read this I’ll already be well into the single player campaign along and playing some multiplayer with practically every other gamer in the world who’s picked he game up which is why I’m recommending the comic this week, if you’re a fan of the game you’re probably going to love this.  Plus I need to find out if Ghost is exactly who I think he is, I’m sure most of you have some idea by now.

Resident Evil #3

Veteran gaming industry writer Ricardo Sanchez and artist Kevin Sharpe bring the bio-weapons of the terrifying world of Capcom’s best-selling game Resident Evil to the boiling jungles of South America.  Follow two agents as they unravel the connections between the destruction of a Space Station, a telepathic G-Virus discovered in Grezbekistan, and the shadowy munitions firm known as Geisel Industries.  Empty villages, flesh-eating zombie children, and a trip to a reclusive CEO’s fortified compound bring them closer to the truth. But none of the terrors they’ve encountered so far could have prepared them for what happens next!  This series which started off pretty ridiculously but has quickly gotten pretty interesting, hell if you’re a fan of Resident you’re used to ridiculous by now, one for fans only I imagine.

Street Fighter IV #4

The conclusion to the 4-issue miniseries based on the fighting game of the decade. While Dan and Sakura fall victim to the experiments of the S.I.N. organization, Abel finally learns the truth about his mysterious origins.  Plus, two powerhouse villains face off – it’s Seth VS Akuma in an explosive battle that could bring S.I.N.’s roof crashing down! It’s undoutably been the year of the fighter this year with many good fighting games finally getting released fans have had their work cut out for them to learn every combo.  The Street Fighter comics have traditionally been pretty good so for fans of the games this comic is a pretty obvious choice if you’re only going to pick one up this week.

That’s it for this week, what are you guys picking up?

The post Whorin’ the Comics – 11th November 2009 appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

What’s this you ask?  A bonus episode of Mornin’ Cup O’ Movie Soundtracks.  Looking back at my choices for the week I realised I was missing something very important, a montage sequence! Films like American Pie and Can’t Hardly Wait were films that shaped my upbringing and like most teen films featured one thing common, a montage scene where everything goes right towards the end of the film.

One of my favourite teen films was the 2001 film The New Guy which starred D J Qualls, Zooey Deschanel and Eliza Dushku and told the story of a guy who reinvents himself at high school in a bid to become more popular.  Towards the end of the film we have a awesome montage sequence which features everything coming together for the all of the main characters set to SR-71′s cover of the song Let It Whip.

It’s an enjoyable upbeat song that should get you in the mood for the weekend, enjoy.

There’s a bonus video after the jump for fans of Eliza Dushku.  I suggest you check it out.

The post Mornin’ Cup o’ Movie Soundtracks – Supplemental appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

The Bourne Trilogy is probably the best series of action films this decade, director Paul Greengrass did a fantastic job of making spies relevant again by making Jason Bourne the anti Bond, so relevant in fact that when MGM got round to rebooting the Bond franchise with Daniel Craig at the helm they tried to incorporate as many Bourne like qualities as they could.

Whilst all of the soundtracks have featured a great orchestral score by  composer John Powell, one constant all three films have had is the song Extreme Ways by Moby.  I’ve always felt the song was a fitting way to close the films with it’s quite undertones of determination I figured what better way to close out our week of movie specials.

Hopefully you’ve enjoyed my selection of some of my favourite songs from the movies and I’m sure I’ll be back soon with some more.

The post Mornin’ Cup o’ Movie Soundtracks appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

I warned you that you hadn’t seen the last of The Cinematic Underground this week and I wasn’t lying.  Today’s song is Emily’s theme from Rian Johnson’s debut film Brick which stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Brick is a film noir set in an American high school where Brendan (Gordon-Levitt) is trying to track down the murderers of his ex girlfriend(Emille de Ravin).  The best thing about Brick is the way it combines high school sensibilities with the language of film noir and I can honestly say it’s one of my favourite films ever.  The soundtrack fits the film so well The Cinematic Underground really outdid themselves here, Emily’s theme is only short but it sums up the style of soundtrack incredibly well with it’s almost spaghetti western undertones that make the film feel on edge every time it appears in the film.

The post Mornin’ Cup o’ Movie Soundtracks appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

Just a couple of things this week in what’s an unusually quiet week in comics, as always a full list can be found here and hit the jump for the Media Whore Network’s guide to the comics you should be picking up this week.

Savage Dragon #154

She-Dragon returns like you’ve never seen her before. The mystery of Overlord deepens. And Dragon is back or is he? Strange things have been happening in the city of Chicago and they’re not getting any less strange any time soon. The Dragon War is coming!  She-Dragon was a great character back in the day and I think it’s going to great pretty interesting with the upcoming Dragon War saga, I can’t wait to see what other characters turn up and more importantly what sides they choose.

Haunt #2

Todd MacFarlane and Robert Kirkman team up to bring us an entirely new superhero in the Image universe. Daniel Kilgore is pulled deeper into his estranged brother Kurt’s secret life of murder and espionage. Still haunted by Kurt’s ghost, Daniel tries to figure out the secrets of HAUNT and his new abilities–all the while, protecting the people around him from the assassins who murdered his brother and set this whole story in motion.  With the talent involved most comic readers should already be reading this, I’d suggest you check it out.

Gears of War #10

Delta has located survivors from the Jilane massacre, and it’s a motley crew filled with far more people than expected!  With an anticipated Locust attack, does Delta have the firepower to hold out until help arrives? The Gears of War comic has proven to be both popular and incredibly well written paying close attention to the canon of the games making it an interesting read for fans of the games.

That’s it for this week, what are you guys planning on picking up?

The post Whorin’ the Comics – 4th November 2009 appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

If you’re a regular reader of the site you may recall that I loved Marc Webb’s sleeper hit of the year (500) Days of Summer, so much so I saw it at the cinema twice and I’m desperate to see it again.

The song I’ve chosen is the 1980′s hit You Make My Dreams by Hall & Oates which happens to appear in my favourite scene in the film.  Tom and Summer have just spent the night together for the first time and Tom is quite understandably ecstatic, as he’s walking to work a fantasy scene plays out in his head where people are walking up to him congratulating him before joining in for a synchronised dance routine to the song.  You can’t help but smile when you watch this and I guarantee it’ll bring a smile to your face because it’s something that I’m pretty sure has played out in most of our heads at one point or another.

Oh and if you haven’t already seen the film you should go and see it, now.

The post Mornin’ Cup o’ Movie Soundtracks appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

Day two in our movie soundtrack special and it’s time for the magic of John Williams in Steven’s Spielberg’s classic dinosaur movie Jurassic Park.  The song I’ve chosen is Welcome to Jurassic Park and is probably one of the most recognisable in cinematic history.   Building up from a slow start as Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and the others approach the island for the first time and quickly realising things aren’t as quite what they appear, right up until we see that shot with Brachiosaurus and ending on a fairly dark note as we’re shown that not everything on the island is as magical as we’re lead to believe the song does a wonderful job of showing us every facet of the island without being to overbearing and in you face, in a word it’s perfect.

The song perfectly captures the childlike wonder of seeing something unbelievable for the very first time and I can’t help but feel inspired every time I listen to the song.

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This has been a long time coming but for this week only Morning Cup o’ Music is focusing solely on some of my favourite movie soundtracks from movies I love. This might be a score or song from a soundtrack that I just love but I really hope you enjoy some of the tracks I’ve got picked out for the rest of the week.

To kick things off we’re going with one of the closing songs from one of my favourite films of the year The Brothers Bloom from director Rian Johnson.  The film tells the story of two con artist brothers (Mark Ruffalo and Adrian Brody) who go on one last job to swindle millions from an eccentric millionaire (Rachel Weisz) but encounter plenty of complications along the way.

The song I’ve chosen is called The Perfect Con by The Cinematic Underground and appears towards the end of the film and as I’m sure you’ll be able to tell it takes place at during a pretty depressing moment in the ending but as the song progresses you can feel the hope reappearing before completely breaking out in songs closing moments.

Hopefully you’ll enjoy the song as much as I did, personally I think it’s a pretty awesome way to kick off the week and this certainly isn’t the last you’ll hear of the Cinematic Underground this week, they’re doing some of my favourite movie soundtracks at the moment.

The post Mornin’ Cup o’ Movie Soundtracks appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

A couple of new titles appear for your consideration this week and a couple of titles reach their penultimate issues. As always a full list can be found here and hit the jump for the Media Whore Networks guide to the comics you should be reading this week.
Invincible Presents Atom Eve & Rex Splode #1

More stories from the Invincible universe are always a good thing and this new miniseries picks up where the previous Atom Eve miniseries ended looks like it’s going to be as exciting as the main Invincible storyline. See what shaped Rex Splode into the man who tragically sacrificed himself in the Invincible War. Witness his first meeting with Atom Eve and learn their stunning secret. Kirkman hasn’t chosen not to get too involved in the spin off leaving it in the capable hands of Benito Cereno, Nate Bellegarde, Bill Crabtree,Bellegarde and Fco Plascencia who were involved in the Atom Eve spin off.

Predator #3

With only 2 issues to go before the Predator reboot comic draws to close and things are starting to hot up on the alien planet. While the guns-for-hire of Graham Directive Security knew they were entering a third-world war zone when they signed on, they never bargained for stumbling into the middle of an interplanetary blood feud. After barely surviving a brutal firefight with a squad of Predator soldiers, Thorpe and Briggs hightail it to the GDS compound only to find their base under siege by the offworld marauders. Thorpe and his crew haven’t got a prayer of survival that is, they wouldn’t if they didn’t have the most unlikely ally in the universe. The comic has been a hell of ride and I’m guessing it’s going to build up to something special when the Aliens vs Predator comic launches later on this year.

Arkham Reborn #1

Another mini series that links into the Battle for the Cowl storyline, I figured I’d include Arkham Reborn this week because lets be honest we all love Arkham Asylum at the minute after this summers kick-ass video game adaptation. Following the Black Mask’s destruction of Arkham Asylum in BATTLE FOR THE COWL, Dr. Jeremiah Arkham has rebuilt the Asylum following the design of his mad Uncle Amadeus. Intended as a model for enlightened treatment of mental illness, the building soon mutates into a torture house, and the inmates find themselves trapped in a living hell. And when Jeremiah starts hearing a voice from beyond the grave, it becomes painfully clear that the lunatics really have taken over the Asylum. I’m glad they’ve decided to make Arkham integral to the plot of in the Batman reboot and I’m looking forward to to seeing how the Asylum figures into everything once this mini series is out of the way.

Halo Helljumper #4

The penultimate issue of the latest Halo comic and things are starting to hot up for our two UNSC heroes. With an entire Covenant regiment hot on the trail of their comrades, Dutch and Romeo don’t have a lot of options…the radios are out, so they can’t alert their CO as to what’s behind them, and they don’t have enough firepower to take the Covenant force out on their own. But hey, what’s this here? A lightly guarded Covenant Drop Ship? But who’d be stupid enough to steal a Drop Ship? Two of the UNSC’s finest, perhaps? The Halo comics have done pretty well to stick to the style of the games as well as fitting nicely into the Halo canon, fans of Master Chief should already be reading this.

That’s it for this week, what are you guys planning on picking up?

The post Whorin’ the Comics – 28th October 2009 appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

Could Youth in Revolt be the movie that finally Michael Cera play somebody other than himself?  Well it’s either this or Scott Pilgrim but Youth in Revolt certainly looks like it’s gong to allow Cera to play somebody a little bit different to the nice guy he normally plays.  Based on the classic novel by C. D. Payne, Youth in Revolt tells the story of Nick Twisp (Cera) a nice guy who has a taste for the finer things in life unlike his trailer trash family.  When Nick meets the free spirited Sheeni (Portia Doubleday) who really isn’t interested in his nice guy demeanour forcing Nick to create a rebellious alter ego, Francois who gets Nick into a lot of trouble with both his friends and the police.

The film certainly looks original and Michael Cera does seem to be playing someone very different when he’s playing Francois, the film gets released in 2010 what do you guys think to the trailer, is it enough to make you go and see it?

The post Youth in Revolt – Trailer appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

(Editors note: This article contains minor spoilers for Up In The Air, all of which can be found after the jump)

Today I was lucky enough to head down to London to the BFI London Film Festival to attend an early screening of Jason Reitman’s new film Up In The Airwhich has quickly become one of the best films I’ve seen all year.  Starring George Clooney, Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga, Up In The Air tells the story of Ryan Bingham (Clooney), a frequent flyer who travels around America firing people from companies who don’t have the gall to fire their own staff.  Whilst travelling Bingham has his own personal goal that he’s trying to reach, flying 10 million miles to join an elite club that only seven others before him have reached, his plans are thrown into jeopardy when he meets Alex (Farmiga) another frequent flyer who he begins to fall for after several layover encounters.  His plans take a further when he’s asked to train Natalie (Kendrick) who’s new system of firing people using video conferencing threatens to ground Ryan for good.

The acting is fantastic across the board and Clooney’s solid performance in the film has further cemented my belief that I would listen to this man read the bible.  Whilst the role isn’t amazingly different from anything you’ve seen him in before but Reitman has clearly chosen Clooney for role because of his own bachelor lifestyle,  Ryan is surrounded by people who have long since settled down with families and kids and loves his job because it keeps him isolated from all of this and is slowly coming to realise what he really wants from life.  VeraFarmiga is great as what your lead to believe is essentially a female version of Ryan, a frequent flyer who has isolated herself from the the rest of the world by travelling all of the time,  whilst that’s not entirely true to say much more would spoil some of the films more dramatic moments.  The film is stolen by Anna Kendrick who plays Ryan’s protégé Natalie, whilst she believes firing people is simply a case of telling them to get out of the door and her rise up the corporate ladder will be a quick one, a couple of weeks on the road with Ryan convinces her otherwise.  Kendrick not only makes the role very believable, she also makes the role very identifiable for anybody under the age of 30 that see the film, she has a plan and she’s going to stick to it so when that plan begins to unravel, so does her life or at least that what she starts to think.  The rest of the cast is filled out by regular Reitman players including J. K. Simmons, Sam Elliott and Jason Bateman, who plays Ryan’s dickish boss Craig and an incredibly funny cameo from The Hangover’s Zach Galifianakis.  A special shout out has to go out to Danny McBride who plays Ryan’s prospective brother in law, Jim. Whilst it’s only a small part, it’s a long way from the typical loud mouth, obnoxious comedic roles he typically plays in films like Hotrod, Foot Fist Wayand HBO’s Eastbound and Down, here he pulls off one of the films more dramatic roles fantastically and I hope that he does more roles like this, I was surprised to find out the guy really can act.

It’s Natalie’s plan that makes up one of my favorite scenes in the movie, her long term boyfriend has just broken up with her via text message and she is left distraught, Ryan and Alex take her for a drink in the hotel bar to try and console her and Anna proceeds to tell them about her ‘plan’.  She’s 23 and planned to at least be engaged by now, corner office by day and entertaining guests by night, kids weren’t too far away and she was looking forward to living a peaceful life by a lake when the children are born even going as far as to name the makes of cars that her and boyfriend would be owning by then.  Ryan and Alex are sat opposite her like parents consoling their daughter the first time her hearts been broken, they proceed to explain to her that once you get to 30 plans and time-scales go out of the window along with that perfect image of a partner and you just need to focus on finding someone who makes you happy.

Watching this scene was like therapy, like most people growing up I had a pretty specific plan of where I was going to be by the time I was in my mid-twenties and things haven’t worked out exactly like I thought they would so it was like looking at myself on screen when Natalie is pouring her heart out to these two older people who also had plans when they were younger only to see their plans pass them by forcing you to delay your plan or changing them entirely, it’s heartening to know that you never really change you just learn to appreciate what you have rather than what you want.

The film is beautifully shot by Reitman and his cinematographer Eric Steelbergfeaturing some amazingly retro looking aerial shots that really do remind me of the days when air travel was still a glamorous pastime.  The airports and hotels in the film are never really shown to be busy or crowded which I quite like because to me at least it seems to represent this public isolation that Ryan seems to live in, only becoming noticeably busier as Ryan opens up and lets more people into his life.  Ryan’s life is so precise that packing and making his way through the airports are quick and exact movements that Reitman cleverly shows using quick cuts in a way an action director will show the hero tooling up for the big fight at the end of the film, it’s an amusing juxtaposition when Natalie first appears who clearly hasn’t travelled for business before with Ryan giving her lesson in efficient travelling and the quickest way to get through airport security.

I loved this movie and I’m so grateful that I got to see 3 months before it gets it’s general release in January in the UK, the US gets a limited release from the 4th December and if it’s showing in a town near you I really can’t recommend the film enough, it’s one of the funniest most touching films you’ll see this year and it’ll certainly leave you plenty of things to think about, go see it.

The post MWN Goes to the Movies – Up In The Air appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

Another week, another great bunch of comics to pick up.  As always a full list can be found here and hit the jump for the Media Whore Network guide to the comics you should be picking up this week.

Cowboy Ninja Viking #1

We can always count on Image bring us some of the most crazy and original comics out there and Cowboy Ninja Viking looks like it’s no exception.  It started with Dr. Sebastian Ghislain: rogue psychotherapist/covert op/DJ. Tasked with creating a counter-intelligence unit, he turned to those long thought useless to society…patients with Multiple Personality Disorder.  These agents became known simply as Triplets. Misguided? Yeah. Impractical? Sure. But did it work? Absolutely not. Now someone has located each Triplet and created a band of ridiculously disturbed, but highly effective assassins. Our only hope? A Triplet known as Cowboy Ninja Viking! Sounds insane, I’m looking forward to checking it out.

BPRD Vol 11 – Black Goddess

Looks like Mignola is continuing to pump out Hellboy fast as he can which is by no means a bad thing.  With Liz gone and their most powerful enemies banding together for a final, catastrophic attack, Abe, Kate, and Johann must determine the price of their souls as they decide where their loyalties lie, and whether the life of a friend is more valuable than the fate of the world. Hellboy is one of the comics that I look forward to every month and I’m stoked that Mignola can keep the pace up, here’s hope he can keep it going.

Invincible #67

Things still haven’t started to look up in The Walking Dead and things don’t look much better in this months Invincible. After escaping from a Viltrumite Prison, Nolan Grayson and Allen the Alien must use what they’ve learned to gather the powers of the universe and unite them against the Viltumites. It all starts here, folks! The Viltrumite War looms large on the horizon!  Cory Walker the artist who helped Kirkman create the series returns to help show us what happens when the Viltumites go to war.

That’s it for this week, what are you guys planning on picking up this week?

The post Whorin’ the Comics – 21st October 2009 appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

And were back to out regularly scheduled programming after last weeks break, I hope you guys picked up everything you wanted last week I know I’ve got plenty to catch up on.  As always a full list can be found here and hit the jump for the Media Whore Networks guide to the comics you should be read this week.

BPRD 1947 #4

The Bureau’s search for a vengeful vampire reaches its climax! In a strange Austrian village a terrifying party took place hundreds of years ago, and the last of the partygoers remain. Meanwhile, back in America, the young Hellboy dreams of adventure.  Only one more issue to go before before the latest Hellboy miniseries comes to a conclusion and I already can’t wait to see what Mike Mignola has gotten planned for Big Red next.

DMZ #46

The world struggles to come to grips with Parco Delgado’s nuclear revelation, and while he’s shooting hoops and avoiding the press, Matty is out there forging new alliances and advancing his own agenda.  But with spyplane overflights and rumors of search-and-destroy teams being deployed, how long can any of this last? Not even the city’s own new media outlet, Radio Free DMZ, has the answers.  I really hope everyone who reads this is already reading DMZ, it really is one of the best comics out there today and for a comic that was only going to run for 30 issues I personally hope it runs and runs.

Walking Dead #66

THE HUNT CONCLUDES! Nothing will ever be the same.  Fear the Hunters concludes this week and makes way for Hope, whatever that could be.  After a fairly dark and brooding run of late and I would certainly like to see things starting to look up for Rick and the other survivors but they may have to do some pretty bad things in order to get to salvation.

The post Whorin’ the Comics – 14 October 2009 appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

Slyvester Stallone’s latest directorial effort The Expendables has had us excited for a little while now, I mean who isn’t excited about the chance to revisit an 80′s action movie that features the men that dominated the genre in the 80′s (Stallone, Lundgren, Rourke, Willis and Schwarzenegger) throw in a couple of the modern action stars (Statham and Li),  a couple of wrestlers (Couture and Austin) and you’ve got The Expendables.

If already watched the trailer then you already know that story is taking a back seat to the action in this film and I’m perfectly fine with that, the press release attached to the trailer gives the following synopsis:

After years of corruption , murder of American hostages and betrayal of foreign policies, The US with the help of other Nations secretly put together a squad of its most trained military personal to finally over throw the dictator who has caused devastation in South America for over 20 years. The team sets out on its mission to complete the assassination but with little help from the nations as they try to keep the mission secret. After they realize that there will be no outside help they rely on their own sources to fight not only the dictator’s army but also the Governments that set them up.

Translations = Explosions, lots and lots of explosions.  Just watching the trailer makes me feel like I’ve been transported back into the 80′s and really now I’m really excited to check the film out when it gets released on the 20th April next year making it a great way to kick off the summer movie season.

The post The Expendables – Trailer appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

Another quiet week this week in terms of things that I’m planning on picking up but I’m sure there’s plenty of things for everybody this week, you can find the list of this weeks releases here and hit the jump for the Media Whore Network Guide to the comics you should be reading this week.

Die Hard Year One #1

Boom Studios continues it’s domination of the licensed comic market with this weeks release of Die Hard Year 1.  Every great action hero got started somewhere. Batman Began. Bond had his Casino Royale. And for John McClane, more than a decade before the first Die Hard movie, he’s just another rookie cop, an East Coast guy working on earning his badge in New York City during 1976′s Bicentennial celebration… and the Summer of Sam.  It’ll be interesting to see how John McClane transfers to world of comics, the style of the Criminal comics by Ed Brubaker could suit the character quite well so it’ll be interesting to see the direction they take with it.

Aliens #3

The Aliens story is nearly over in this reboot of the Aliens comic saga.  Untold trillions of miles from Earth, the planet Chione holds limitless treasures, ancient mysteries and horrors beyond imagination. In the presence of the greatest archaeological discovery in human history, biologist David Sereda’s journey of discovery becomes a desperate rescue mission as he plunges alone into a vast, maze-like necropolis to save the life of a woman trapped amidst an infestation of deadly xenomorphs. But when Sereda comes face to face with the madmen who murdered his crew and buried him alive, he begins to doubt his quest as he realizes that for any hope of success in the midst of monsters, Sereda may need to make a deal with devils.  The series has been a fairly good read so far and sticks well to the established canon of the series so it’ll be interesting to see how this all ties up with Predator comic and the upcoming Aliens vs Predator series.

Umbrella Academy Vol 2 – Dallas

One of my favorite comics in the past couple of years has been the Umbrella Academy, written by Gerard Way (of My Chemical Romance fame) and drawn by Gabreil Ba, The Umbrella Academy tells the story of a dysfunctional family of superheroes.  Following the near apocalypse created by one of their own and the death of their beloved mentor, Pogo, the team is despondent. So it’s a great time for another catastrophic event to rouse them into action.  Trouble is, each member of the team is distracted by some very real problems of their own. The White Violin is bedridden due to an unfortunate blow to the head. The Rumor has lost her voice–the source of her power. Spaceboy has eaten himself into a near-catatonic state, and while Number Five dives into some shady dealings at the dog track, The Kraken starts looking at his littlest brother as the key to unraveling a mysterious series of massacres.  Everybody should at least try the Umbrella Academy it really is one of the most original comics around at the moment.

That’s it for this week, what are you guys planning on picking up? There probably won’t be a post next week because I’m away on a trip, so it’s going to be up to you guys to tell me what I should be buying.

The post Whorin’ the Comics – 30th September 2009 appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

Another quiet week this week with only a few things released that I’m planning on picking up.  As always the full list can be found here and hit the jump for the Media Whore Networks guide to the comics you should be picking up this week.

Invincible #66

The first part in the ‘Preparations for War’ story line sees the return of Cory Walker, the original artist who helped co-create the series with Kirkman.  Nolan and Allen the Alien have escaped from prison and must unite every race in the universe to take on the Viltumites as they prepare to take over the galaxy. Another one of Kirkman’s properties that doesn’t seem to want to tell a happy storyline, here’s hoping things start looking up for Invincible soon.

Halo Helljumper #3

In honour of the release at ODST this week I thought I would include the latest Halo comic for your comics consideration.  Mysteries deepen as the Helljumpers’ investigation of the curious events at the Space Colony Ariel continues. Cut off from the rest of their company, Dutch and Romeo must use every ounce of skill and strength to stay alive. But earth-shaking events, both physical and personal, will truly test the mettle of these two brothers-in-arms.  The Halo comics have been incredibly well written and drawn and play nicely into the canon of the games so I don’t think there’s any reason to think this will be any different, a recommended read if you’re a fan of the game.

Goon TP 09 – Calamity of Conscience

It only seems like last week that I was devouring the last Goon trade but here is the latest one ready for us to check out.  It’s hard to sum up The Goon so I’ll just take the solicitation and post it here verbatim.  Prepare for the usual weirdness, as only Powell and The Goon can provide: the living dead (children, priests, and pretty ladies), pretty living ladies, gypsies, backwoods children . . . “dogs” . . . crazy-weird cats, pimps peddling animal love, animals on the receiving end of said animal love . . . evil Shredded Wheat-men, more-evil undead burlesque-house owners, guys with tails, a woky (a woky?) . . . and more!  Enough to pique your interest?  It should be, The Goon is one of those comics everybody should be reading.

That’s it for this week what are you guys planning on picking up?

The post Whorin’ the Comics – 23rd September 2009 appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

Never seen District 13? Go watch it now, it was the fantastic debut by french director Pierre Morel and produced by Luc Besson who recently brought us last years sleeper hit, Taken.   If you didn’t know District 13 is the film responsible for making free running popular in America and quickly became a cult hit when it was released in 2004.  Starring a cast of unknowns the most famous person on the cast is David Belle who luckily is one of the founders of the Parkour that features so heavily in the movie making all the stunts look amazing.

Unfortunately the sequel is being directed by Patrick Alessandrin with Besson still on board as the films writer as producer but it looks like Alessandrin has managed to capture the look and feel of the first movie which shouldn’t give us too much to worry about.

Three years after the events of the original film, the authorities are attempting to return law and order to ravaged District 13. The death of gang overlord Taha Bemamud at the end of the previous film has left a power vacuum, and total control of the area is now being fought over by five rival territorial gang lords who want to step into Taha’s position of overlord over District 13. Damien and Leito return to District 13 on a mission to bring peace to the troubled sector before the secret services of Paris take drastic measures to solve the problem.

If the trailer for the new film doesn’t convince you that this film is going to be awesome, then check out the clip below from the films opening chase scene, awesome.

The post District 13: Ultimatum – Trailer appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

(Editors note – The following post contains mild spoilers for (500) Days of Summer)

Every now and again something gets released that speaks to me so personally I feel I have to tell the world about it, (500) Days of Summer is one of those films.  Directed by Marc Webb and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel and tells the story Tom (Gordon-Levitt) and Summer (Deschanel) who meet one day when Summer starts working at the greeting cards company where Tom also works.  After a chance encounter in a lift where Summer compliments Tom on his taste in music (The Smiths) Tom realises that she is the one.  The film then follows the good, bad and very very ugly parts of their relationships but as we are told at the start of the film, this is not a love story, this is a story about love.

Webb has done a fantastic job directing the films non-linear narrative which may put people off but trust me, if this film had a traditional narrative structure people would walk out of this film very depressed.  Each of the films scenes represent a day in the life of Tom and Summer and not only are they all fantastic they are also all unique as well.  Whilst Webb’s shooting style won’t change the world, it’s simplicity enhances the film ensuring that the focus stays on the actors and not some fancy shooting style.  Stand out scenes include drunk karaoke where Tom and Summer debate their opposing views on love and a dance number in the middle of the film which celebrates the first time Tom and Summer spend the night together which most guys will recognise as something that at least goes through their heads after they’ve spent the night with somebody special.

My favourite scene in the movie however isn’t a particularly happy one, Tom and Summer have been separated for some time but after reconciling at a former co-workers engagement party Tom agrees to attend a party Summer is holding at her apartment at the end of the week.  What follows is a work of genius in my opinion, the screen is split into two and the words ‘Expectation’ and ‘Reality’ appear at the bottom of the screen the scene then plays but on one side of the screen is what Tom expects to happen at the party (Tom and Summer getting back together) and what is actually happening at the party (Tom spending most of his time alone, ignored by most of Summers other friends) before being unable to take it it any more and leaving, dejected and defeated leaving his world grey and lifeless (literally), all perfectly set to the haunting Original Sin by Regina Spektor.  That’s a pretty poor explanation and you really do have too see it to understand but trust me, it’s pretty special.  It’s one of those scenes that will have people, myself included wanting to shout at the screen “That’s me! I’ve felt like this!” which is what makes this film so great, it really does speak to people and make them look back on the relationships they’ve been in and maybe work out where it went wrong.

The acting is in the film is simply wonderful but then I wouldn’t expect anything less from Deschanel and Gordon-Levitt who pull off the on off romantics of Tom and Summer incredibly well, so well in fact you could probably mistake them for a real couple.  Joesph Gordon-Levitt is the hopeless romantic in this film he truly believes in everything he’s ever watched, listened to or read about love and that there is only really one person for him in the world and that’s Summer and when she breaks his heart, his life really is over and I have a feeling a lot of the guys who go and see the movie will identify with the beliefs Tom holds over love.  Whilst Summer isn’t that different to the roles that Deschanel normally plays it’s almost a role reversal because she’s the villain of the piece.  Rather than being the one who gets her heart broken she’s the one that’s doing the breaking.  It’s not just the leading couple who put in some great performances, Geoffrey Arend and Matthew Gray Gubler co-star in the film as Toms best friends who attempt to consul him when things go bad, they both only have small roles but they are both very, very good in the film.  One of my favourite characters in the film is Tom’s 12 year sister Rachel who is fantastically played by Chloe Moretz.  Rachel seems wise beyond her years as she doles out sage like advice to Tom as he works out what to do in a post Summer world, it’s a role that’s normally filled by a father figure or a friend and I think it’s a fantastic play on convention by getting a little girl to  give out the mature advice.

So that’s my gushing look at (500) Days of Summer and I think you can probably tell I liked it, just a little but.  I’ve seen it twice now at the cinema and if there’s time I will go and see it again, it really is that good.  The only other thing to mention is the films soundtrack, with songs from Regina Spektor, Carla Bruni, Hall & Oates, The Temper Trap, The Smiths and a whole bunch more each song fits fantastically into the film but with Marc Webb’s background as a music video director that really is no surprise.  So go see it and let me know what you think to the film that could very well be my film of the year.

The post MWN Goes to the Movies – (500) Days of Summer appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

Zombies are causing trouble as always, Kevin Smith returns to comics once again in Batman: Cacophony and Ghostbusters are back to fight the things that go bump in the wild west.  As always the full list can be found here and hit the jump for the Media Whore Network Guide to the comics you should be reading this week:

Walking Dead #65

Well it looks like another one of our original survivors bites the dust this week but will he go down without a fight?  Issue 65 is the penultimate issue in the Fear the Hunters story and it’s building up to be one hell of conclusion, I just hope that after the continued sadness and horror of the past couple of issues that Kirkman finally lets the characters stop and breath for a little while, even if it’s only for a little while.

Ex Machina #45

Ex Machina is racing towards it’s finale now, with only 5 issues to go until the comic finishes it’s illustrious run and things are starting to get a little intense.  Whilst Mayor Mitchell Hundred is busy navigating the most challenging topic of his political career.  His alter ego, the Great Machine is facing off against a foe who’s been pulling strings since issue 1.  I’ll be sad when Ex Machina comes to an end at the end of the year, I just hope they send the Great Machine out with a bang rather than a whimper.

Ghostbusters – Displaced Aggression #1

More Ghostbusters is never a bad thing so this new comic series should be a welcome edition for fans of property. After being defeated by the the father of Gozer, Lord Kozar’Rai, the Ghostbusters find themselves separated across time.  Issue 1 focuses on Peter Venkman who’s become trapped in 1886 who’s only hope of getting home is a beautiful ally, it’s Venkman who else was going to help Venkman but a beautiful young heroine!  I’m looking forward to seeing where they take the series, who knows where they are put the rest of team.

Batman – Cacophony HC

After having a couple of successful but highly delayed runs on several Marvel properties including Spiderman and Daredevil, Kevin Smith has had finally gotten his hands on Batman.  The villain of the piece is Smith’s own creation Onomatopoeia, a superhero serial killer who heads to Gotham to go after The Caped Crusader!  Things quickly go wrong for Batman when he’s forced to choose between capturing Onomatopoeia and saving the life of his nemesis, The Joker!  We all know Kevin Smith is a talented writer and his passion for comics really shows when he gets round to writing one, hopefully we won’t have to wait too long for him to try his hand at another one.

Well that’s it for this week, what are you guys planning on picking up?

The post Whorin’ the Comics – 16 September 2009 appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

Before I got into Skate I was always a Tony Hawk man, Skate scared me with it’s realistic controls and lifelike skate mechanics.  Then when Tony Hawk lost it’s way with T.H.U.G  and became the Bam Margera show I figured I’d give Skate a go, and there was no looking back.  I love the controls and the game play, everything felt so intuitive, natural and was generally a joy to play.  Skate 2 refined the game which was all it really needed and brought some fun additions in the form of the Hall of Meat where you got to make extra cash by bailing as hard as you could when you fell off.  Suffice to say as soon as I saw the video this morning I got pretty psyched for it’s release next May.  The focus here seems to be on team play and it seems like you’ll be able to jump online and form your own skate crews before taking part in online competitions, how this will be represented in the single player game I’m not sure but rest assured I’ll be keeping my eye on this one until it comes out.

The post Skate 3 – Teaser Trailer appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

Seth Rogan’s Green Hornet adaptation has been plagued with delays, rewrites and changes of staff. Things started to look up for me when Michel Gondry signed up to direct the film earlier on this year and my excitement continued to grow when Nicholas Cage signed onto the film as the villain who has been simply described as “a gangster who tangles with the Green Hornet.” Well now for whatever reason (money) Cage has walked away from the film leaving the role open for somebody to come in and take it, and boy has the replacement gotten me completely excited for this film.

Christoph Waltz has signed onto to replace Cage as the films villain which for me at least is absolutely fantastic news.  If you don’t recognise the name you then you should he recently stole the show in Quentin Tarantino’s latest masterpiece, Inglorious Basterds as that films villain Hans Lander. I can’t wait to see what he brings to role of a comic villain and I’m glad that he’s getting snapped up for a big role staright off the back of Basterds.  Unfortunately we probably won’t hear too much about the film until the 2010 San Diego Comic Con before it gets a worldwide released next Christmas.

The post Green Hornet Villain Announced appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

Well if you’re in America anyway, us guys in the UK have got to wait until October 5th to get our hands on it.  I cannot wait to get my hands on this game, more specifically I cannot wait to see the outcome of a face off between God and Cthulhu with God rocking a shotgun!

Anybody else planning on picking it up?  I wanna hear some of your stories for the most random things you can create.

The post Scribblenauts is Out Tomorrow! appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

There’s a couple of interesting things out this week that grab my attention and only one new series that I think might be worth checking out.  As always the full list can be found here (insert link) and hit the jump for the Media Whore Networks guide to the comics you should be reading next week.

There’s a couple of interesting things out this week that grab my attention and only one new series that I think might be worth checking out.  As always the full list can be found here and hit the jump for the Media Whore Networks guide to the comics you should be reading next week.

DMZ #45

DMZ #45 starts off the five part story ‘Hearts and Minds’ which sees DMZ photo journalist Matty Roth trying to change the DMZ his own way.  No longer content with being merely a citizen or a lackey in Parco Delagos struggling city government, he travels around with his own security force and his own ideas for what to do to save the city.  Will this new found arrogance help New York City or will Matty find himself another casualty of the war? I’ve said it before but it bears repeating here, DMZ is one of the best comics out there at the moment and if you’re reading this column you should be reading DMZ, go and buy it.

Kick Ass #7

Since deciding to become a superhero Dave Lizewski has been beaten, stabbed, run over, beaten some more and it’s about to get a whole lot worse.  I love Kick Ass it’s one of the most original, offensive comics books to come out in years.  Mark Millar has done a fantastic job blending superhero conventions with his own twisted sense of style and made a fantastic read for all comic book fans, even if you not a fan regular superhero stories.  If you don’t already read it go and pick it up and join the rest of us in getting excited for Matthew Vaughans take on the comic when it gets released in cinemas next year.

BPRD #1947

Professor Bruttenholm, his team and their Soviet allies head back to the asylum to find out more the Project Vampir Sturm.  But all is not what it seems after a fatal encounter with one of the asylums inhabitants makes the team really they are grossly under prepared to deal with the horrors that lurk deeper with the asylums halls.  Everybody should be reading Hellboy and I’m glad that Mike Mignola has gone back into the series past to explore the past of Professor Bruttenholm who is one of my favourite characters in the series.

That’s it for this week guys, what are you planning to pick up?

The post Whorin’ the Comics – 9th September 2009 appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

The teaser trailer for Jason Reitmans new movie Up in the Air has just become my favorite trailer of the year.  Starring George Clooney and based on Walter Kims 2001 novel, Up in the Air tells the story Ryan Bingham, a corporate downsizing expert whose cherished life on the road is threatened just as he is on the cusp of reaching ten million frequent flyer miles and just after he’s met the frequent-traveler woman of his dreams.  The film has become the breakout hit of the Telluride Film Festival where it was the surprise screening, the film gets released on the 4th December in the US whilst the rest of us get to wait until 2010.

Thanks to Slashfilm for posting the trailer.

The post Up in the Air – Teaser Trailer appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

In celebration of LOST’s final season and as a project of fan appreciation, 16 top designers and artists, who are also fans of the show, were commissioned to create artwork celebrating one of the series’ most memorable, and unforgettable, “water cooler” moments. This ultimate “fan art” was then turned into labor intensive, hand-pulled screen prints, limited to an edition of just 300, with less than 200 available to the public through our websites. Each beautiful poster tells its own different story, allowing the fan to relive memorable and influential moments in an artistic manner, as the show’s storied run comes to a close. Once this limited edition print has sold out, they will never be printed again. Celebrate the fandom, community and family created by one of televisions’ greatest shows by hanging a little part of it’s history, inspiration and influence on your wall.

The post Awesome Lost Artwork appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

If you didn’t already know Leonardo DiCaprio and his production company, Appian Way have been trying for a little while now to bring an American remake of Katsuhiro Otomos classic anime, Akira to the big screen.  Various writers have worked on the script of the past couple of years with nobody ever permanently on the project, this morning the guys over at Collider have found out that Iron Man and Children of Men scribes Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby.

I always thought this was going to be one of those projects that was always ‘being developed’  but I’m a little more hopeful now the writers of two of my favorite films from the past couple of years are on board, the next question of course is who’s going to star?

Everybody’s assumed DiCaprio would always take the role of Kaneda, the hero of the film even though he’s a little to old for the part, I could certainly see his younger self doing well in role if the film had being made in the 90′s.  Personally I could see a guy like Chris Evans doing well in the role, he’s young enough to still pull of being in college and has enough action experience to pull off the rebellious anti-hero convincingly, plus I can see him looking amazing on that bike.

It’s the role of Tetsuo that interests me the most.  Russ Fischer over at Slashfilm reported a little that Joesph Gordon-Levitt was being considered for the part and is all I can say to that is fuck yes!  Levitt is perfect for a role like this, he’s young enough for the role and he’s a fantastic actor who should be able to bring the tormented Tetsuo to the big screen.

I’ve just gotten a little more excited for the film, providing they make it different enough to the original anime it could turn out pretty well. What do you guys think, make the film or leave the classic anime alone.

The post Live Action Akira Movie Still Coming appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

This is one of those stories that I’ll file under ‘just crazy enough it might work.’  We’ve known for a little while that Sylvester Stallone has been keen to to jump back into another Rambo fairly soon after finishing up The Expendables.  He’s been quoted several times as saying he wants to take Rambo in a different direction but never really clarified this new direction, the guys over at Ain’t It Cool News received a fax over the weekend detailing the plot synopsis for Rambo V and it looks like it’s going a little Sci-Fi.  Hit the jump to find out what Rambo is going to taking on this time.

What’s does everyone think about Rambo vs Man Beast then?  I think it could work as long as it doesn’t turn into a CGI action romp like so many action films these days but hopefully Stallone tries to keep this as ’80′s’ as possible.  What interests me the most is the mention of a 22 year old hunting partner, I can’t think of anybody in that age group that could pull off an action heavy role.  Personally I say change 22 to early 30′s and cast Jason Statham in role, Stallone and The Stath romping around the Arctic Circle hunting crazy genetic experiments could be brilliant.

Source: Ain’t It Cool News

The post Rambo vs Man Beast? appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

The Marvel Zombies return to cause trouble this week and one of my favorite comics gets it’s latest trade paperback release.  As always a full list can be found here, hit the jump for this weeks Media Whore pick of the comics you should be reading this week.

Marvel Zombies Return #1

Marvel Zombies surprised everyone with it’s popularity over the past couple of years but what happens when you’ve devoured everything in the universe?  You teleport to an alternate reality obviously!  Issue 1 of Return focuses on zombie Spiderman teleporting into an alternate Marvel universe and interacting with classic Spiderman characters including Gwen Stacey, Mary Jane-Watson, The Sinister Six and himself.  My only concern is that it could end up being simply a rehash of the original Marvel Zombies but the books are so much fun I have to recommend that you check out at least one issue, even if you’re not a fan of Marvel.

Savage Dragon #152

Things are taking a turn for the worse as Savage Dragon experiences further transformations and the Overlord strengthens his hold over Chicago which could change the city forever.  Savage Dragon is one of the best creator owned, independent comic books around today and it’s never too late to get involved with in series because it has some wonderful collected editions collecting the older issues so I implore you to go and catch up.

Army of Darkness #24

I’m so glad they’ve continued to milk the cash cow that is the Evil Dead franchise for all it’s worth, if only to make sure Bruce Campbell still receives a pay check.  The Army of Darkness comics are probably about as close as we are going to get to an Evil Dead 4, unless of course something horrible happens to Sam Raimi’s career which I doubt will happen any time soon.  The comics continue to follow the adventures of Ash as he attempts to save the world from the powers of the Necronomicon, the comics perfectly capture the style and the sense of humour from the films and if you’re a fan you should check it out.

DMZ – War Powers

One of my favourite comic series around at the moment is DMZ.  Set in the middle of the second American civil war, DMZ follows photo journalist Matty Roth as he chronicles the life and times of the inhabitants of Manhattan which has become the DMZ in middle of the war.  In War Powers Matty has to put his life and ethics on the line when he becomes a political operator as he searches for what he hopes is justice.  DMZ is one of the best comics around at the moment and if you have an interest in American politics or the way the media manipulate war for ratings, this is required reading.

That’s it for this week, what are you guys planning on picking up?

The post Whorin’ the Comics – 2nd September 2009 appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

Mike Judge, director of the cult classic Office Space returns to theatres this week with the release of his latest film Extract.  Starring Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, Kristen Wiig and Ben Affleck, Extract tells the story of Joel the popular manager of a flavor extract factory who is one step away from selling his factory and retiring to an easy life until a freak workplace accident throws his life in jeopardy.

The film looks like a blast and anything with Bateman is pretty much a must watch for me, the real star here however looks like it’s Ben Affleck.  I’m glad to see Affleck making smart choices again and choosing smaller, interesting acting roles rather than bigger roles in crappy movies.  I’m one of the few believers in Affleck left, here’s hoping Extract gets him back a few more fans.

Extract gets released this Friday in the US, no word yet on when the film will get released anywhere else.

The post Extract – Trailer appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

One of the news pieces that Marvel didn’t make too much noise about yesterday was regarding the new direction of the Fantastic 4 franchise.  Akiva Goldsman has been hired to produce  a new Fantastic 4 film which will act as a complete reboot for the franchise.

I wasn’t a fan of either of the Fantastic 4 films and I know that the films weren’t well received by fans of the comic books, the only positive things I can think about regarding the first films is Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis who I thought were perfectly cast as Johnny Storm and The Thing, Jessica Alba was the least believable scientist I’ve ever seen and Ioan Gruffudd lacked the charisma to be Mr Fantastic.

Whilst they can’t build the Fantastic 4 into the newly created Marvel universe because it’s owned by 20th Century Fox  they can try and give it a suitably more adult and darker tone but part of me thinks they should just leave the franchise alone and focus on something else.

What do you guys think, should they reboot the series or leave it alone? And more importantly who should they cast as the Fantastic Four?

The post Fantastic 4 to be Rebooted appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

Flashforward is one of the few new television programs hitting our screens this month that I’m actually intrigued about, mostly because they are selling it as the new Lost.  Based on Robert J. Sawyers 1999 novel of the same name, Flashforward involves a global event where everybody on the planet blacks out and experiences their life six months in the future for two minutes and seventeen seconds, leaving people wondering if what they saw is really going to happen.

Series creator David S Goyer has recently said that he has fully mapped out an entire plan for anywhere between three and five series of Flashforward depending on how popular the show is.  Goyer went on to say that in a post Lost-era world producers can no longer just pitch pilot episodes, they have to have at least one series planned before they’ll even get a green light which I think is great news for TV fans because we’re getting better, well thought out programming.

Of course this all rests on the final season of Lost being the huge success that I’m hoping it’ll be.  We’ll soon be finding out if Abrams, Cuse and Lindelof have had a plan all along or have they really been making it up.  If their grand plan falls flat then it probably won’t be as important for shows to have a over arching, multi season plan.

Flashforward is released on the 24th September on ABC, any of you guys planning on checking it out?

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I’ve never been entirely sure why but I’m a massive fan of Bad Boys 1 & 2.  They’re not great films but they are great fun to watch, especially if you like guns, explosions, fast cars and hot women.  Will Smith has always talked of doing a third film and I’m pretty sure at this stage Martin Lawrence will sign up for anything that gets him noticed, the question is can they afford to get Michael Bay back in the directors chair?

The problem with Bay is that he’s now got two films under his belt (Transformers 1 & 2) that he not only receives a fat stack of cash when he directs them he also get a percentage of the merchandising rights which for films like Transformers is mega bucks.  Hopefully Peter Craig who is the writer Columbia have hired to pen a screenplay for potential film will just write the word EXPLODE over and over for 120 pages and that should be enough to get Bay on board.

The guys over at Slashfilm have pointed out that Bay may have been subconsciously thinking about Bad Boys 3 before development began or he may have left a subtle hint in Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen.  When Sam first goes crazy and writes random symbols all over his dorm room he writes the number 3 on a poster for Bad Boys 2.

What do you guys think, coincidence or a subtle hint?

The post Hell Yeah! Bad Boys 3 in Development appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

I’m a massive fan of George Clooney, especially when he does quirky off-beat comedy and his latest film; The Men Who Stare Goats.  Based on Jon Ronson’s  book, Cloonet stars alongside Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey in this true story of a reporter who is chasing after a crazy story. U.S. Army First Earth Battalion unit member Lyn Cassady (Clooney) claims to be part of an experimental U.S. military unit using ancient Chinese mind techniques to develop paranormal powers for American soldiers. This elite experimental group have developed “unparalleled psychic powers to read the enemy’s thoughts, pass through solid walls, and even kill a goat simply by staring at it.”

Aside from the bad voiceover which spoils the trailer the film looks like a lot of fun and  you can’t go wrong with the talent involved, I’m looking forward to seeing the film when it’s released this November what do you guys think?

The post The Men Who Stare At Goats – Trailer appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

There’s not too much out this week that’s grabbed my attention this week but there’s still a couple of bits that are worth picking up.  As always the full list can be found here and hit the jump for the Media Whore Networks guide to the comics you should be reading this week:

28 Day Later #1

This month Boom! Studios releases the comic book follow up to the hit zombie movie, 28 Days Later.  Following Selena, one of the survivors from the film as she struggles to survive in a Norwegian refugee camp only to be pulled out by a bunch of journalists with war experience who bring her along on a trip because of the experience she has with people infected with RAGE.  The comic looks familiar to to DMZ which is another journalist in extraordinary situation comic series that I adore, adding zombies into the formula make this a guaranteed purchase for me.

Predator #2

In the middle of the third-world civil war a group of military contractors find themselves fighting for their own survival when they get caught in the middle of another war between two groups of Predators.  The first issue of the Predator reboot  was well received by comics fans and fans of the Predator film franchise, I’m sure with the recent news that Robert Rodriguezes Predators movie being fast tracked to release next summer fans of the film are looking for something to wet their appetite and it looks like they’ve found it in this comic series.

Domo GN

It’s Domo! Everybody loves Domo the former mascot of a Japanese television channel who everybody seems to love finally gets his own English language manga comic.  Tokyo pop describes a few of the adventures as; Domo wreaks havoc on his friend Tashanna’s Wii, wins a box car race by being the car, and decides to be whatever he sees on TV, including Tarzan, a samurai, and finally, a chef!  Sounds like this could be an enjoyable read and at the very least it’ll be some easy to read nonsense.

That’s it for this week guys, what are you planning to pick up?

The post Whorin’ the Comics – 26 August 2009 appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

If you’re a fan of Scott Pilgrim (which you should be) and are heading to PAX next weekend (which you should be) then you can get your hands on the awesome video game related Scott Pilgrim poster above.  Not sure what game the poster is parodying, hit the jump to find out.

If you didn’t guess then it’s Puzzle Fighter, the poster for which is below.  Now if was heading to PAX then I’d be fighting people for one of these posters  but I’ll be partying in Amsterdam instead.  Of course if anybody wants to fight and get one on my behalf I’d love you forever.

The post Limited Edition Scott Pilgrim Poster Only Avaliable at PAX appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

The more I see of the Zombieland the more I realise this film needs to hurry and get released.  This new international trailer focuses on a couple of the rules to surviving a zombie filled world and introducing us to to the main cast focusing on the romance between Jesse Eisenberg and Emma Stone.  The trailer certainly looks funny and stylish, here’s hoping there’s some substance to the film when it’s released at the end of November.

The post Zombieland – International Trailer appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

Like (500) Days of Summer, Black Dynamite was the toast of Sundance 2009 and has spent most of this year touring the festival circuit and trying to find distribution partners.  Apparition and Sony have partnered and are planning to give the film a limited release on October 16th,  allowing for word of mouth to build up allowing the films release to get wider and wider.  The film looks amazing and if it’s showing near you then I’m telling you to go and see it.   Don’t know much about Black Dynamite, hit the jump to find out more.

Directed by Scott Sander, Black Dynamite is a parody of the Blaxploitation films of the 1970′s which is probably best described using it’s own synopsis:

“This is the story of 1970s African-American action legend Black Dynamite. The Man killed his brother, pumped heroin into local orphanages, and flooded the ghetto with adulterated malt liquor. Black Dynamite was the one hero willing to fight The Man all the way from the blood-soaked city streets to the hallowed halls of the Honky House.”

The film stars Michael Jai White who was last seen briefly in the Dark Knight, if Black Dynamite is half as big as I think it’s going to be, then White could end up being a huge star by the end of the year.  I’ve included the Red Band trailer below but beware, it’s very NSFW.

The post Black Dynamite Gets October Release. Go See It appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

Described as a “contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind” the teaser trailer for Christopher Nolan’s latest film certainly does what all good teaser trailers do, it teases.

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Joesph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanbe, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy and Michael Caine Inception is about entering peoples’ minds/dreams. A technology to do so has been developed and is done through an injection. DiCaprio and his team work to enter the minds of other characters in order to retrieve/plant information, the film sounds suitably weird I’m sure you’ll agree but in Nolan we trust.

The film reminds me of The Matrix which was released in ’99 and it helped redefine Science Fiction cinema, it’s been a decade since that movie was released maybe Inception will be next that film redefines the genre.

The post Inception – Teaser Trailer appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

Juan Carlos Fresnadillo has stepped into Gore Verbinski’s shoes to direct the big screen adaptation of Bioshock.  If you didn’t already know Universal halted production on the film in April and started to look at filming outside of the US to try and lower the ballooning budget, unfortunately this meant that Gore Verbinski was hesitant to commit to spending too much time overseas because of his own schedule.

“The bottom line is it has to shoot out of the States for budget reasons and my schedule may be prohibitive. There’s a great script and a really interesting cast. It really comes down to the financial model now. Big movies are just not being shot in the States. I’m weighing whether I can physically go the U.K. or Australia or one of those other places with a tax rebate for a year-and-a-half.”

Well it looks like Verbinski has completely backed away from directing the project and will now only produce the film whilst Fresnadillo has jumped into the directors chair.  Fresnadillo is  most famous for directing the film 28 Weeks Later, a film I enjoyed but I know a lot of people didn’t.  What surprises me is that Universal didn’t offer the film to Guillermo Del Toro who has been outspoken for a number of years on his love for the game, I’d love to see what he could have done with the property after seeing Hellboy 2 and Pans Labyrinth I’m sure he would have made Rapture look like a living, breathing place.

I think Fresnadillo could make a visually interesting film but what concerns me is the probable drop in budget that the film will see because it no longer has a big name director attached to it, which will mean more green screen effects rather than actual physical sets and I think that’s what Rapture needs to make it feel like a real, lived in place.  This is also Fresnadillos fourth feature film so the studio are going to exert a lot more control over him to get the movie that they want, which probably means bad news for gamers.

I was intrigued to see what a big screen Bioshock movie could look like but I guess I’ll just write this one off as another bad idea.

The post Bioshock Movie gets New Director appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

Today’s the day we finally get to see what Avatar finally looks like, at 10am EST / 7am PST the trailer for James Cameron’s highly anticipated film will be released and I cannot wait to glimpse what he’s got in store for us.  They’ve released a couple of images from the film featuring Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Giovanni Ribisi, Stephen Lang and Michelle Rodriguez, whilst they’re not quite as interesting as the image of the Na’vi avatar which was released at the start of the week they’re enough to keep me going until later on today.

The post Six New Avatar Pictures appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

I knew I needed Dragon Age: Origins before I saw the latest trailer from Games Con but after watching the trailer, I’ve realised I need this game now.  The trailer shows a bit more of the games back story before quickly giving way to what looks like some kick ass battle scenes and I don’t know if you noticed but a character jumps off of a tower onto the back of a dragon, this game is going to awesome!

The post Dragon Age: Origins – Trailer appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

Another Marvel favorite reaches a huge milestone this month and one of my favourite comic authors has a new hardcover out.  As always the full list can be found here and hit the jump to find the Media Whore Networks guide to the comics you should be reading this week.

Daredevil #500

Daredevil has been around for a long time it seems, first appearing in 1964 Daredevil has never been one of the top Marvel superheroes but he’s obviously popular enough to keep going for this long.  Celebrating 500 issues means big changes are afoot in the story where the Kingpin reveals his true story and Daredevil finds out he has something in common with Lady Bullseye.  The 500th issue also marks the final issue that Ed Brubaker and Michael Leark are involved in before handing over to the next creative team who have yet to be announced, it’ll be interesting to see who takes over from such an esteemed team

Ex Machina #44

With only six issues left to go until the Ex Machina ends its run it looks like we are finally going to have some answers regarding Mayor Hundred and just exactly why he got given his powers.  I love Ex Machina and I’ll be sad when it finishes in a few months time but glad at the same time because series creator Brian K Vaughn is stopping it whilst it’s good rather than carrying and ruining the story before he runs out of ideas.

Astounding Wolf-Man #18

Robert Kirkman’s Astounding Wolf-Man is another comic I enjoy that’s about to end.  Regular readers of the column will know I’m a big fan of Kirkman and we all how busy of a guy he is so it’s understandable that he wants to drop one of his smaller projects to keep the pace going on his bigger titles including The Walking Dead and Invincible.  We’ve still got a few issues to go, 25 is the final issue but issue 18 starts to put things in place for the big finale.  Like most of Kirkmans titles, The Astounding Wolfman has been down a dark path in the past few issues  and now the Wolfman has broken out of prison and things aren’t clear exactly which side he’s on.

Filthy Rich

I’ve copied the synopsis of the Brian Azzarellos latest crime story Filthy Rich because it sounds so awesome.  Richard “Junk” Junkin has always lived on the wrong side of trouble. A former pro football star whose career was cut short by injury (and a nasty gambling problem), Junk now spends his time dreaming of what might have been, selling cars in Jersey, and lusting after the boss’s unbelievably spoiled, unbelievably sexy and unbelievably rich daughter, Victoria. So when the boss asks him to be Victoria’s personal bodyguard while she tears up the New York City club scene, Junk leaps at the chance. But before long, he’s finds that Victoria wants a lapdog and not a chaperon, someone who’s going to do all of her dirty work-all of it — someone who wants to get filthy rich. It’s a $20 comic but it’s from the fantastic mind of Azzarello, who wrote one of my favourite comics, 100 Bullets so I’m sure this will be a worthy purchase for any fan of the crime genre.

That’s it for this week, what are you guys planning on picking up?

The post Whorin’ the Comics – 19 August 2009 appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

The majority of the film takes place from the inside of the box with Reynolds frantically trying to make phone calls to anybody that can help him before the phone runs out of power and he runs out of oxygen.

Sounds like a pretty interesting premise to me and Sam Rockwell in the summers indie hit Moon has proved that one man on screen for ninety minutes can interesting providing the story and premise have been well written.

I like it when Reynolds does these smaller quirky indie films.  The last one he did was The Nines (trailer below) in which his character may or may not have been god, it’s a really interesting film and was one of the films that made people sit up and realise the guy can act as well as stand there and look good.

The post Ryan Reynolds Gets Buried Alive appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

Now there’s not many of us here at Media Whore Network that aren’t excited about Iron Man 2, personally the first Iron Man is my favorite super hero movie and I cannot wait until we get to see a proper version of that sweet footage from San Diego Comic Con whilst the footage was quickly removed from the internet, I’ve included footage from the panel after the jump.  On their website this morning Marvel have released a new image of Whiplash from the upcoming comic miniseries Iron Man vs Whiplash. Now this isn’t a confirmation of what Whiplash will end up looking like  in the film but I’m guessing that in the footage we’ve already seen he is only in his Mark I armour, just after he’s broken out of prison and not his final form.  Jon Favreau knows how to keep the fans happy so I can see something like this making it into the film and Mickey Rourke would pretty bad ass in this get up.

The post New Whiplash Outfit Revealed appeared first on WatchPlayRead.

UFC fighter Randy Couture also has a role in the film and UFC recently premiered the first footage from the film inter-cut with advertising for the latest UFC Pay Per View event which you can find after the jump.

There’s not much footage there here what is quite clear is that this film is going to be very, very violent.  The Expendable is released on 23 April 2010 and I cannot wait.

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To promote the impending release of The Guild season three the cast have teamed up with Jed Whedon (brother Joss) to create the music video, Do You Want To Date My Avatar.  There’s nothing special about the song, it’s a catchy Europop beat and the video is pretty generic but it’s fun, features a look of in jokes about MMO’s and it stars Felicia Day which is the main reason it’s getting posted.  If you really want to support the show then you can buy the single on iTunes right now, or even buy the video. Season 3 of The Guild is released on all of the Microsoft video platforms on August 25 and it’s a great show, I suggest you check it out.

The post Do You Want To Date My Avatar – Music Video appeared first on WatchPlayRead.